Catholic's Stringfellow grew up with legacy of 1971 championship team

Catholic senior Luke Stringfellow reflects on significance of Wednesday’s state semifinal. His grandfather Bucky Stringfellow coached Catholic to a state championship in 1971.
Brian Achatz

Catholic's Luke Stringfellow (21) and West Florida's Keion Burrell (10) take the opening tipoff during their semifinal game of the 6th annual Crusader Classic at Catholic High School on Thursday, December 28, 2017. Catholic won 48-31 and will face Pine Forest in the championship game on Friday.(Photo11: Jody Link/online@pnj.com)

LAKELAND — As Pensacola Catholic's basketball players enjoyed breakfast at Waffle House on Wednesday morning, it allowed time for each member of the program to realize the significance of the day ahead of them.

Catholic (28-1) plays Ocala Trinity Catholic in the Class 5A state semifinals at 1 p.m., the first time the Crusaders have advanced to this point since 1971.

But for Catholic senior Luke Stringfellow, it's more than just that.

His grandfather, Bucky Stringfellow, is legendary in Catholic's history and was the head coach of Catholic's 1971 state championship team.

That was the last Catholic team to win a regional final and reach the state final four, which finished 33-1 and was led by the great Sam McCants, who finished his prep career with 3,333 career points.

Now almost a half-century later, Luke Stringfellow gets to add to his family legacy.

"When we first won the regional final, it hadn't really sunk in that it was real," Luke Stringfellow said. "Waking up today, it has really sunken in. It means a lot to me. Ever since I was a little kid my grandfather told me about winning a state championship and I saw that trophy in his closet.

"It's been a dream of mine to get to this point. I'm excited and a little bit nervous, but I'm ready to play today."

The basketball gene did not skip a generation in the Stringfellow family.

Luke Sringfellow's father, Mark Stringfellow, was a lights-out shooter for Gulf Breeze High and went on to play at Troy University.

"Everyone says he is one of the best shooters they have seen, he averaged 21 points per game his senior year at Gulf Breeze," Luke Stringfellow said. "It's always been cool to hear about both of them. Basketball has been a big part of our family.

"My dad has helped me so much to get to this point. I'm glad he and my whole family will be at the game. I'm very thankful for him and everyone else that has helped the team get to this point."

While Luke Stringfellow has absorbed aspects of basketball from both his father and grandfather, he has also carved out his own identity as a player.

Catholic head coach Jeff Gill credits Luke Stringfellow for being a leader on the court and having a great mentality — traits that could certainly have been derived from his grandfather's coaching.

He leads Catholic with 5.4 rebounds per game this year and Gill credits him for constantly crashing the boards against taller players.

"Luke is a good player and an even better person," Gill said. "He's been a three year starter for us and probably got thrown into the fire a bit as a sophomore but he accepted the challenge. He's our team leader. He keeps our team calm went hings get kind of frenetic.

"He does every drill right in practice and gives 100 percent every time. It's hard for the younger guys not to follow that when they see what he's doing."

Catholic tips off at 1 p.m. vs. Trinity Catholic in the Class 5A state semifinals. Check back on PNJ.com/sports for live updates. For live Twitter updates, follow @PNJBrian.